


Warmup

by helloshepard



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-11 12:05:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3326657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helloshepard/pseuds/helloshepard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pre-Transformers Prime. The warship is undergoing repairs, and Decepticons resort to blowing off steam the way Decepticons will.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warmup

**Author's Note:**

> Today I saw a sad fanart, and got really sad, so I ignored scholarly duties and wrote this instead. Enjoy! Feedback is always appreciated.

With one notable exception, the Regulon star system was uninhabitable. Gas giants crowded Regulon’s dying star—nicknamed Primus by the Decepticons. The exception was a Decepticon outpost nicknamed Nemesis.

The warship _Nemesis_ was stationed just off-planet, scheduled for refueling repairs to its power core as soon as the planet’s natives finished fortifying the outpost.

In the meantime, the warship’s crew was on indefinite leave. For a group that had been on high alert for years, calling the sudden change “startling” was not being descriptive enough.

Very quickly, the battalion commanders began ordering double patrols, and the warship had never been cleaner. But after Starscream and Megatron broke apart three separate fights on two occasions, both agreed something more had to be done.

The solution was simple.

For two days, the Vehicons and Eradicons cleared out the spare storage bays, modifying them to match Megatron’s precise specifications.

Starscream had not approved.

“Supervised combat is barely a step above an all out brawl.”

When Megatron pointed out that it was “supervised combat” that kept much of Iacon complacent during the beginning of the revolution, Starscream threw his support behind the project, pitching the successful idea of a tournament. No injuries requiring sickbay, winners received double rations.

(The winner was D44-99, who received triple rations for a decacycle, and survived until the Decepticons arrived on Earth.)

The tournament concluded, the storage bays quickly fell into general disuse. Troops would venture down during their breaks to spar and reminisce, hoping to catch the officers doing the same.

R6-07, the runner up to D44-99, and 05, an Eradicon who had been eliminated in the second round, were at the storage bays for the former reason.

At once, the distinctive sound of metal against metal told the two they were not alone.

“Maybe it’s the boss?”

“You’re scrap,” R6 muttered, cuffing the smaller mech’s helm. “It’s too quiet, and I saw her in the hallway with Starscream not five cycles ago.”

“Oh.”

Nonchalantly, R6 pushed upon the door.

_“Oh!”_

_“What!?”_

R6 stepped into the storage bay, expecting to see the latest figures of Eradicon gossip copulating like petro-rabbits, or two troopers tearing each other’s helms off. Instead, there was just Lord Megatron and Soundwave, apparently in the middle of their own match.

A distant part of R6 recalled 05 had been a ‘drone’ tasked with clearing the pits in Kaon, and later, providing an opening act to onlookers who had arrived to see the infamous gladiatorial matches.

The Eradicons stood, entranced. After all, the two officers didn’t seem to care about their new audience—stopping to _look_ might give the advantage to his opponent.

Soundwave sidestepped a blow from Megatron’s sword with barely an inch to spare. Almost casually, he twisted around, grabbing the larger Decepticon’s arm and pulling it behind Megatron’s back. Megatron roared. He jabbed blindly behind him with his free arm. He missed—barely. Soundwave hesitated, and R6 guessed that if this had been a true match, a blade would be used to rip out Megatron’s Spark—or remove his limb. Instead, Megatron ducked, knocking out Soundwave’s legs from under the slimmer Decepticon. Soundwave fell, and Megatron grinned. Tackling Soundwave, the two tumbled into the corner.

R6 flinched. 05 was frozen, waiting for the inevitable ending.

They had barely hit the wall when Soundwave was up, bladed arms attacking Megatron’s arms and knees with a ferocity R6 hoped he’d never experience. Megatron recovered quickly and blocked every attack Soundwave mounted, but was unable to begin his own.

“It’s a stalemate. A draw.”

“I _know.”_

After what felt like an eternity, the two stopped at an unknown signal, locked in position, frozen save for frantic breathing. Megatron did not speak, though R6 was certain he had been trying to goad Soundwave on. R6 checked his chrono. Barely four cycles had passed since he and 05 had arrived.

Slowly, Soundwave’s turned to look at the two Eradicons. Though the gesture seemed impassive as always, its meaning was clear today:

_Get. Out._

Grabbing 05—who had practically fallen over himself in excitement, R6 stumbled out of the storage bays and into the lift. He didn’t relax until the doors hissed shut, and didn’t _entirely_ relax until the second tournament was announced and Soundwave didn’t spare him a second glance when he arrived.

(He didn’t win.)


End file.
